The present invention relates generally to the evaluation of aerospace component testing systems, and more particularly to a flow master used to check pressure testing systems.
Many aerospace components include air channels (e.g. for cooling) that are fabricated to strict specifications and tested during manufacture to ensure that fluid flow and differential pressure across these channels fall within expected ranges. The equipment used to this testing can suffer from wear, malfunction, and calibration drift, and must be periodically checked. In some cases, testing equipment may need to be recalibrated based on these checks.
Flow masters are example parts used to periodically check equipment and calibrations used in this testing. Conventional flow masters are ideal copies of a target workpiece (e.g. an airfoil), and separate masters are used to calibrate tests for each flow path within each part. Because flow masters are known to be ideal parts, the expected results of testing flow masters with testing equipment are known. If testing equipment returns unexpected results while “testing” master parts, this indicates that the testing equipment is miscalibrated, defective, or otherwise malfunctioning. Constructing a “perfect” master part can be expensive and labor intensive, and because flow masters are used to evaluate testing equipment regularly in most manufacturing settings.